TWoP 10: TV Things We're Thankful For This Year

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While we're constantly grateful for our friends and family and jobs and health and all that jazz, we're really thankful for the gift of television and DVRs.

Updated at 4:00 AM EDT on Sunday, Nov 22, 2009

While we're constantly grateful for our friends and family and jobs and health and all that jazz, we're really thankful for the gift of television and DVRs and for Grey's Anatomy episodes without Katherine Heigl. So instead of focusing on the negative, we'd like to spend this very special episode of TWoP 10 celebrating all of the good that has come to the airwaves this fall.

10. Dollhouse is Given Notice
While we're not happy Dollhouse was cancelled, we are happy that the show will get the chance to air its remaining episodes to finish out its second and final season. Unlike when unceremoniously cut off Joss Whedon's Firefly a few years back, Whedon will be able to wrap up Dollhouse the way he wants to, which hopefully means we'll see a lot of story resolution that might have been a long ways off under ordinary circumstances. We won't go as far as saying "blessing in disguise," but we will say that we can't wait for the finale, because nobody does them like Joss.

9. Charlie's Match.com Dating Profile (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)Sunny in Philly's funniest moments usually involve delving into the mind of Charlie Kelly, but Mac and Dennis trying to interview him for his Match.com profile, in which we learned that his favorite food is "milksteak" (preferably with a side of fine jelly beans -- raw), that his interests include "magnets" and "little green ghouls, buddy!" and that his dislikes are solely "people's knees" was one of the funniest short scenes in the history of this already awesome show.

8. Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory
Parsons scored an Emmy nom for his role on BBT and rightfully so. His character Sheldon is a masterpiece, the perfect blend of intellectual superiority, smug nerdosity and obsessive-compulsive disorder. From his intricate arguments about superheroes to his icy analysis of his roommate's love life, he's the bastard we love to hate, mostly because we know he likes to be sung to when sick.

7. John Lithgow on Dexter
It didn't seem possible, but somehow John Lithgow has managed to forego his usual overacting style in favor of delivering a genuinely terrifying and restrained serial killer foe for Dexter. He's the perfectly suburban Christian dad when the script calls for it, which makes his psychotic explosions all the more disturbing when they appear. Truly perfect casting, and very impressive work from an unlikely actor on a series returned to form this season.

6. The Office Wedding
Finally, the payoff we've been waiting five years for! Although the rehearsal dinner was a nightmare and the ceremony itself devolved into a YouTube video tribute, Jim and Pam got the wedding they wanted by cutting out for an hour and getting married on the deck of a boat under Niagara Falls. In the words of Jim: "I bought those boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we'd need a backup plan. The boat was actually Plan C, the church was Plan B, and Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her." Oh, Jim -- you seem to have gotten something in our eye.

5. The Vampire Diaries Is Surprisingly Good
The first episode of this seemed to just be aimed at cashing on to the popularity of Twilight (even though the VD books were around first). But this silly CW love triangle has rapidly become a weekly addiction, not for the cheese factor, but because it's actually good -- shockingly so. The well-developed rivalry between the brothers, some stellar acting on Ian Somerhalder's part and a bunch of really fun plot twists (and the cutest little witch since Willow) have made this a perfectly satisfying partner for our beloved Winchesters.

4. Nathan Fillion on Castle
We love Nathan Fillion wherever he pops up, so we were happy when his new series Castle got picked up for a second season because it's a fun, comedic procedural that keeps getting better the more we come to know the cast of characters. But the best supporting cast in the world would mean squat without Fillion himself, who hams it up in every scene as Rick Castle, the big-kid mystery author who gets to play cops and killers for real. And the Halloween-episode shout-out where he dressed up as his character from the late, great Firefly? Icing on the cake.

3. Two Awesome New Comedies in Community and Modern Family
Usually if we get one halfway decent new comedy a season we're lucky. And ones that start strong and don't need a lot of time to build like Parks and Recreation or The Office are even more rare. This season we were blessed with two fantastically funny new shows that started off fabulous and have kept up the momentum. Community focuses on an oddball students in preposterous situations and Modern Family focuses on an oddball group of relations in preposterous situations, both happily laugh track-free. Community is filled with pop culture references and features a selfish jerk as the lead, while Modern Family delights in exposing as many awkward family moments as possible. Both are awesome in their own right and we're hoping that we'll be thankful for them for many years to come.

2. The Mad Men finale
Aside from the regrettable likely loss of Kinsey and Ken for good, the new business endeavor between Don, Bertram, Roger, Pryce, Pete and Harry was one of the most exciting season finale plot twists and next-season set-ups we've ever seen. The band's back together (with Joan in tow, thankfully), the Draper marriage was put out of its misery at just the right time and we can't wait to see what happens with that rag-tag rogue advertising company full of crazies cooped up in a hotel room. Dear Bones, House and Heroes: this is how you do it right.

1. All Things Glee
We may quibble and nitpick about plotlines that don't make sense or about Mr. Schue's annoying wife, but it comes from a place of love. This show is just such a wonderful delight, filled with pop songs and good cheer, that it just brightens up our week. Jane Lynch is phenomenal and someone needs to give Amber Riley (Mercedes) a recording contract, stat. And seriously, iTunes can't post the songs fast enough for us. So while we might not love a preachy story about being nice to people in wheelchairs, we love this show with open arms and are willing to forgive all of its flaws.

What are you thankful for on television this season? Let us know below.